Chapter 129 Gaining Trust
Cui'er felt a tremor in her heart. She looked at Su Wenzhen and asked, "Your Highness summoned Cui'er here today and said these words...what is your intention?"
"Cui'er, have you ever thought about this?" Su Wenzhen pursed her lips and tapped the table beside her. "Actually, there are other people who are much better than Jiang Hai?"
Cui'er was taken aback. An answer was about to spring to her mind, but she couldn't believe it. She looked at Su Wenzhen and cautiously probed, "Your Highness means..."
“I think…” Su Wenzhen turned his head and smiled at Cui’er, “Although Wenyan is a bit unruly, he is still someone you can entrust your life to.”
As expected, Cui'er looked at Su Wenzhen with a bitter smile. After a long while, she spoke with her last glimmer of hope, "Your Highness, the Fourth Prince is of noble birth, but Cui'er is merely a maid in the Prime Minister's residence. I'm afraid..."
"What are you afraid of?" Su Wenzhen suddenly smiled, looked at Cui'er and said with pursed lips, "If you agree, I can ask Prime Minister Ye to take you as his goddaughter tomorrow, how about it?"
Cui'er felt a jolt in her heart. She bit her lip and looked at Su Wenzhen, but her expression remained unchanged. After a long while, she looked at Su Wenzhen and said, "This matter... I'm afraid we'll have to wait until the Princess returns..."
"So, do you agree?" Before Cui'er could finish speaking, Su Wenzhen interrupted her. He looked at her with a smile on his face, "I think if you agree, Wan Ning won't refuse, and..." he said with a smile, "she will probably be very happy."
Hearing Su Wenzhen's words, Cui'er felt a sharp pang of heartache. How should she respond? She naturally didn't want to, but…
"Cui'er, think this through carefully." Su Wenzhen stood up, looked at Cui'er, and said in a measured tone, "Jiang Hai did such a thing today. If you insist on being with him, you might betray this palace in the future. Are you really willing to make Wan Ning sad for someone like that?"
After saying that, Su Wenzhen strode towards the door of the study, leaving Cui'er behind, her eyes terribly empty. Was she really going to hurt the heart of the princess who loved her so much for someone like that...?
As soon as he stepped out of the study, he saw Su Wenyan hiding to the side waiting. Upon seeing his back, Su Wenzhen couldn't help but smile and shake his head. He walked up to him gently and said, "Wenyan."
"Ah!" Su Wenyan turned around, looking at him with a slightly embarrassed expression as he scratched his head. "Second Brother." As he spoke, his eyes glanced almost imperceptibly behind Su Wenzhen.
"What's wrong?" Noticing Su Wenyan's unusual behavior, Su Wenzhen pretended not to know the reason. He smiled and asked in a teasing tone, "What are you looking for?"
“I…” Su Wenyan sighed in frustration, then turned to see Su Wenzhen’s smiling face. He immediately understood what was going on. He stared at Su Wenzhen, his anger blazing, “Second brother, are you making fun of me after you’ve already made fun of Cui’er!”
"How is it?" Su Wenzhen smiled, raised an eyebrow at Su Wenyan, and after a while said, "You don't need to look for her anymore, she's still in the study."
"The study?" Upon hearing this, Su Wenyan was taken aback, then looked at Su Wenzhen with a puzzled expression and asked, "What is she doing in the study?"
“There are some things that naturally need to be thought through,” Su Wenzhen glanced at him and said calmly.
What happened? What happened? Su Wenyan was taken aback. When he turned around, he saw that Su Wenzhen had already walked away. He quickly followed, "Second Brother, what happened?"
Since returning to the palace from the Prince of Jin's residence, Jiang Hai had remained silent. As if sensing something was wrong, Su Wenxuan looked at him and asked, "Jiang Hai, what's wrong?"
Jiang Hai snapped out of his daze and saw Su Wenlan looking at him. He quickly asked, "Your Highness, what is it?"
“I didn’t ask you anything just now.” Su Wenlan looked at him, narrowed her eyes, and after a while, asked with a puzzled expression, “What are you thinking about?”
"Your subordinate..." Jiang Hai pursed his lips, lowered his head and said, "Your subordinate wasn't thinking anything..."
"If you weren't thinking about anything, then why were you lost in thought?" Su Wenxuan smiled, then continued, "You've been like this ever since we returned from the Prince of Jin's residence. Could it be..." He paused, then said calmly, "...that you're reluctant to part with it?"
"No." Seeing this, Jiang Hai quickly replied, "This subordinate has none."
"If there's nothing wrong, then why are you so lost in thought?" Su Wenxuan put down his brush, walked over and sat down. He picked up a teacup and took a sip. "Tell me about it."
"Your subordinate..." Jiang Hai hesitated, but couldn't say anything.
"What's wrong?" Su Wenlan smiled, glanced at Jiang Hai, and then put down his teacup. "Alright, I was just joking. You don't need to take it to heart." After saying that, he looked at him again and changed the subject: "Speaking of which, I think that maid I saw at the Prince of Jin's residence today was quite interesting. What do you think?"
Upon hearing Su Wenxuan mention Cui'er, Jiang Hai's body trembled. After a long while, he composed himself and said, "She's just a maid..."
“If she were just an ordinary maid, why would my fourth brother care about her?” Before Jiang Hai could finish speaking, Su Wenzhen interrupted him. He looked at Jiang Hai, tapped the table lightly with his right hand, and after a while, he spoke meaningfully, “Speaking of which, that maid is quite a good match for my fourth brother. Jiang Hai, you’ve been by Wenzhen’s side for a while now, you must know that maid well, don’t you think?”
"Your subordinate..." Jiang Hai gritted his teeth and continued, "Of course..."
"Why do I feel like you're saying this reluctantly?" Su Wenlan suddenly laughed, then paused before continuing, "However, that maid's background is rather low. For my fourth brother's sake, I'll have to put in some effort!"
“Of course.” Jiang Hai pursed his lips, his tone devoid of any warmth. “Since the Crown Prince has already made his decision, why bother asking me?”
"Why do I feel like you've been upset?" Faced with Jiang Hai's attitude, Su Wenlan didn't get angry but smiled instead. After a pause, he walked to Jiang Hai's side and said, "Could it be that you also...?"
"I have none," Jiang Hai said firmly through gritted teeth.
"I could tell. You lost your composure the moment that girl arrived." Su Wenxuan looked at Jiang Hai and said leisurely, "In your heart, I'm afraid you also have feelings for that maid, don't you?"
Jiang Hai pursed his lips and didn't reply, seemingly acknowledging Su Wenyi's guess.
Seeing that Jiang Hai didn't speak again, Su Wenxuan nodded. It seemed that it was indeed as he had thought. He smiled slightly and said, "Since that's the case..." He leaned close to Jiang Hai's ear and said, "If you want, I can ask for that maid for you."
“The Fourth Prince has long admired Cui’er.” Jiang Hai did not answer Su Wenyi’s question; his voice was somewhat hoarse. “This subordinate knows that I am not worthy of the Fourth Prince…”
"Fourth Brother is quite unruly." Su Wenxuan pursed her lips and glanced at Jiang Hai. "I think such a wonderful girl shouldn't be handed over to him. Besides, I think that maid has some feelings for you. After all, it seems that she lost her mind because of you. Moreover, you, Jiang Hai, are not as good as him."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Hai pursed his lips and remained silent, seemingly in agreement.
“Wenzhen is currently in power, and it’s already a huge effort for me to have you here.” Su Wenzhen looked at Jiang Hai, narrowing his eyes. “Cui’er is Fourth Brother’s beloved, and I’m afraid I can’t make you two lovers a couple anytime soon, but…”
Su Wenxuan leaned close to Jiang Hai's ear, her tone full of temptation, "If you're willing to do me a favor, Cui'er will definitely be yours in the future."
Jiang Hai stiffened and looked at Su Wenxuan, "What is it?"
"Let Su Wenzhen give up his post as the supervisor of the State of Chu."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Hai was taken aback, looking at Su Wenlan with disbelief. "How is this possible?"
“How is it impossible?” Su Wenlan smiled strangely. He looked at Jiang Hai, then leaned close to his ear and whispered a few words. Jiang Hai nodded, his eyes darkened, and he left the study, heading off somewhere unknown.
Just as Jiang Hai stepped out the door, the guard standing beside Su Wenxuan frowned. "Master, you're already..."
"It's alright, he won't betray us." Su Wenxuan smiled and waved his hand. Jiang Hai is a man of the martial world, and loyalty is paramount. Since that's the case, he can't escape the word "love" in the end! Thinking this, Su Wenxuan couldn't help but laugh. This Ye Wanning is truly a treasure!
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